human canvas art

Blake the Surfer Dude with his cool pen tattoos

driftwood beach swords

Fighting the NW winds with a special sword!
"Driftwood Beach" Moehue Range, Coromandel Peninsula, NZ

Freya with her more dainty sword
"Driftwood Beach" Moehue Range, Coromandel Peninsula, NZ

Beach Time

There is something very special about visiting beaches.. they provide hours of entertainment for the kids and chill out time for the parents watching the kids! You always have common interests.. to relax and enjoy the beach and the beauty about it is that every time you visit the beach, it's different, and free!! 

 

We enjoyed Stanmore Bay beach recently, a special beach to me as it's one of the beaches that I spent a lot of time at when I was a kid, and now I am sharing it with mine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rocky Bay Dip, Great Mercury Island

Great Mercury Island is a small island between the end of Coromandel and Tauranga.  It is not far from Whitianga and for the kids it was the first time they had been there.  After walking over to this secluded bay they enjoyed nature at it's best with swimming, collecting and relaxing.

 

There were so many different types of stones, it was hard to not pick them up!

 



Island Trekking, Great Mercury Island

On our summer holiday cruise we went ashore at Great Mercury Island.  This is a beautiful island with walks all over it to many of the bays and huge rock formations. 

 

The kids had great fun exploring amongst the farm animals and beaches!  Trekking over it we found cattle stops, an abundance of sheep and cows and even a small patch of flowers!

 

 

 

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

This is super easy and after exploring the gardens we found a couple of pine cones that we turned into bird feeders!.... With a smear of peanut butter and seeds to stick, hang it up and watch the birds LOVE IT!

Retail Experience

While I am doing some sign writing for a local retailer, the kids get to accompany me and help me out.  Fortunately I have known the staff for years so they love having the kids help them with the 'stock'.  They also like to see what I'm doing, help me with some of the letters, and always like doing the exclamation marks!

I think it's great practice for them so let them help me when they want (provided I have their painting clothes along with me too!) After a while Blake likes to paint his own box so that keeps him busy as he likes to paint EVERY surface!